Pride of Lions
by juniper red
Summary: Everyone at Seigaku has their own place in the team. Some are more obvious than others.


Disclaimer: For this to be mine, I would have to be a great deal better at tennis. And drawing.

**Pride of Lions**

At Seigaku, everyone has their own role to play, and their own personality. It's part of what makes them such a great team – they are so much a family of individuals that no one overshadows anyone else.

Kawamura is the power-player. He is also the kind one, so long as he doesn't have a racket in his hand. Oishi is the worrier, the mother hen of the group, and Ryuuzaki-sensei sometimes chuckles to herself that it is Oishi's skill at herding the cats of the Seigaku team that makes him so good at controlling the game on the tennis court.

Their personalities are as distinct as their playing styles. Eiji is the bouncy one, both in tennis and in mannerisms. Oishi sometimes muses that it's no wonder his partner brushes his teeth so much considering how much sugar it must take to bounce like that all day. Inui is the data-man, the one everyone turns to for answers, though not often for other things. As dedicated as Inui is, he's also the creepy one of the team.

Kaidoh, appearances to the contrary, is the sweet one.

Surprisingly, no one has ever heard about the time Momo saw Kaidoh running without his shirt or bandana or the abandoned pile of clothing that had become the bed for a mother cat and her litter of kittens. Momo's more of a dog person himself, but he saw the look on his rival's face when he was setting up the nest and he won't tease Kaidoh about something that makes him look so… soft. They are kind to each other, in their own way.

The rest of the team is a little funny. Tezuka and Echizen are in some ways closer to being alike than any other members of the club. Tezuka is the strong, stoic captain and Echizen is the cocky rookie, but they are both pillars of Seigaku and they take it seriously. Though Eiji likes to poke and prod Echizen, "just to make sure Ochibi still remembers how to smile." Momo says it's more like a smirk, but Echizen elbows him so he shuts up. And anyway, Inui is sure he saw an actual smile hidden under Echizen's ball cap. He doesn't tell anyone though. It might come in useful some day.

Fuji, naturally, is the mysterious one. He is runner up for being creepy, but while his close-eyed smile is unnerving, Fuji is too polite to score higher than Inui on that scale. Inui rates him fairly high on his "frustrating people" scale, and Eiji likes to tease Fuji about enjoying being an enigma. Fuji usually smiles and accuses Eiji of stealing his English dictionary.

The funny thing is, while Tezuka is the captain and Oishi is the worrier and Momo and Kaidoh are the resident hotheads of the team, Fuji is the most protective.

The first time it happened nobody really paid it that much mind. After all, Fuji was bound to be protective of his brother, so beating Mizuki into the pavement was less surprising than it might have been. Echizen was a little surprised by how vicious Fuji was about it, but then nobody really liked Mizuki anyway.

The second time was easy to overlook. After all, Jirou was legitimately strong, and Ryuuzaki had said that maybe Fuji should actually try for this one. The only real sign was the way Fuji held on to Kawamura's racket afterwards, and Oishi remembered the way Fuji had forfeited the match against Fudomine when Kawamura hurt his wrist taking the shot for him.

The third time it happens is more obvious. Although it could have just been that Fuji wanted to win, everyone had noticed when Echizen came to practice with his knee covered in bruises. Similarly, everyone had noticed the way the Rikkaidai players tracked him when he walked on the court – not just someone new, but someone to be wary of. When Fuji goes up against Akaya, it is with a seriousness he rarely shows. But when Akaya preemptively blocks a shot at his knee, Fuji _knows._

And nobody messes with his team.

Terrifying as Akaya might be in his red-eye mode, and astounding as his self-actualization transformation is, deep down, none of the Seigaku regulars are really that surprised when Fuji wins, despite not being able to see for much of the game.

But they are nearly as relieved as they are proud that Fuji is _theirs_.

O~o~O~o~O

A/N: First PoT fic, because I love the moments when Fuji stops being quiet and mysterious and is suddenly dangerous in defense of his team. I didn't really mean for it to be this long, but the rest of the team snuck in there and didn't want to leave. Also, don't ask me about the title, I have no idea. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed it, please review!


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